Making Guilt-Free Decisions

By Heather McCauley

I have heard it said before that guilt is a useless emotion. In my opinion, it is far more damaging than merely useless. Guilt has the ability to replicate other negative emotions like doubt, anger, loathing, rage, hate and fear – the outcome of which is no less than devastating to an individual. The downward spiral produces a cesspool of ilk and leaves us to drown in it like deadly quicksand. By breaking the ‘habit’ of feeling guilty over decisions made, we can build a stable foundation of emotions that are more positive in nature. By making every effort to make a conscious decision from the beginning, you alleviate the possibility of feeling guilty about it in the future. In order to make conscious decisions, you must first examine your own motives.

Ideally, all actions and decisions would be motivated by love; love of self, love for others, love of animals, love for our planet, etc. If you are motivated by anything else such as fear, desire, greed, jealousy, need or other’s expectations – that is fine - as long as you recognize the motivation. Simply know that all motivators other than love are ego-driven and may not be helping to feed your soul. A strong ego-driven motivation will win every time over love, because the ego is invested in winning and the soul is not. If you have a strong sense of self and you want to experience soul growth, you may ask yourself “What would Love choose?” before making the big decisions.

Whatever decision you are weighing right now, know that you can never make the wrong choice. Wherever you end up is exactly where you were meant to be. No matter what your decision yields, your spirit is at peace with it. There is no need to judge it right or wrong and, therefore, no need to feel guilty. And, despite the old adage, I believe there are ‘do-overs’ in life – we can simply make a new choice. Remember to be at peace with your motives and you will be at peace with your decision as well as any circumstances that should arise as a consequence of that decision. You can also take this opportunity to be at peace with any previous decisions you regret or feel guilty about. Whatever your decisions, don’t just settle for being guilt-free; be at peace and move towards joy – there’s no longer anything holding you back.